Shadow Sneak
by EyeofAmethyst07
Summary: Just a quick little oneshot about what happens when Giratina finds something in her shadow that isn't supposed to be there... Fluffy story, Giratina x Marshadow, IsolationShipping


**A/N-Hi guys, this is just a quick little one-shot that I'm posting in honor of the Japanese release of Marshadow. It's pretty much 100% fluff, so be careful that you don't choke on it.**

 **I've decided to call this pairing** _ **IsolationShipping**_ **because cool sounding ship names, amiright?**

 **Shall we begin?**

Shadow Sneak

"Giratina, is everything alright?"

The Renegade basilisk, who was in her Origin Forme at the moment, raised an eyebrow at Darkrai. "What makes you think something's off?" she asked curiously, and with good reason. Even though the two were good friends, Darkrai rarely asked after _anyone's_ wellbeing (unless it was Cresselia…). Both of them were rather isolated from the rest of the Legendaries, so him asking after her health probably meant that he sensed something wrong.

"Well," began Darkrai, glancing up with his cyan eye to meet her quiet red gaze as they sat in her chambers in the Hall of Origin, "something about your shadow feels off." Giratina snorted, rolling her carmine eyes. She'd been expecting something dramatic and life changing, like " _you have cancer"_ or something equally ridiculous. Instead, her shadow was off?

"My shadow feels _off?"_ she asked Darkrai skeptically, sparing a glance back at her hazy silhouette. Nothing out of the ordinary there, or so it looked. "What exactly qualifies as _off?"_ Darkrai hummed thoughtfully, eyeing her shade suspiciously like it would grow teeth and bite him in half.

"It feels denser than it should," said the phantom at last, after a moment's silence. "Like there's already something hiding in there." Giratina was intrigued by this, although she kept her voice flat and uninterested. Darkrai could see through her little facade, of course, but she kept it up out of force of habit.

"I thought you were the only one who could hide in shadows?" she asked, quirking a curious eyebrow towards the phantom, who scowled and crossed his arms.

"So did I," said Darkrai gruffly, before shaking his head and heading towards the door. "I'm going to ask Arceus about this. There was that batch of newcomers not so long ago, from Alola. Maybe one of them has that ability." And without another word, the Dark type was gone. Giratina huffed and rolled her eyes, now that she was alone.

"Nice talking to you, buddy," she muttered to herself, just pretending to be annoyed fort eh sake of being able to argue with herself. Not that long ago, her annoyance would have been real. Giratina was willing to admit that she had been a nasty piece of work, hating the world and acting like it hated her right back. The Renegade Pokémon had lived up to her species name, refusing to do anything if someone else wanted to do it just to prove that she was 'better' than them. Or something. Honestly, the whole thing was ridiculous now that she looked back on it.

Being emotionless had also been a large part of her relentless act. The only thing she had been capable of feeling was anger, and if you couldn't tell just from looking her in the eye, then a few sentences in conversation with her would have done the trick.

Darkrai had been the one to change that, honestly. The prospect of a true friend had won out over touchy idealism (eventually), and the two shadow rulers had quickly bonded over similar experiences of being rejected and feared. Sometimes at the same moment.

Giratina heard something. She wasn't sure where it came from, or what had made the noise, but she heard it. Quickly, she whipped her serpentine form around to glare at the empty space behind her. Or, rather, the small ghost that floated behind her.

The second they made eye contact, the small grey figure yelped and dissolved into the shadows. However, Giratina was prepared and alert, so she could track his movements. He was a fast little sucker, but it didn't take long for Giratina to force the creature out of the shadows and back in front of her.

He was a small, grey ghost that looked like it was trying to implode on himself. His most striking feature, strangely, was his eyes, which shone a bright, brilliant orange. He was staring at her, small frame shaking in pure and utter terror. The standoff lasted for a few seconds until Giratina finally broke the deadly silence.

"Why were you—?"

Before she'd even finished her question, the small ghost before her clenched his eyes shut and began blabbering almost nonstop.

"I'msososorryIdidn'tmeantoberudeit'sjustthatIreally—."

"Stop!"

The ghost obeyed, closing its quivering mouth and staring at her with its wide candlelit eyes. She realized, suddenly, that this was one of the newcomers from Alola that Darkrai had mentioned. His name was Marshadow. Apparently, he was very nervous and jittery, if his sudden outburst from before was anything to go by. She'd have to be gentle with him.

Giratina shook her head as she realized that she'd been fixed staring at Marshadow's eyes. It's not like she could really _help_ it… they were very alluring. Her subconscious laughed at her patheticness, and Giratina told it to go rot in the Distortion.

"Marshadow," she said gently, sliding back her golden mask so she didn't look quite so threatening. "I'm not going to hurt you. Don't worry." Marshadow relaxed a little, his arms slowly drifting to a more natural position by his side. Not that he was't curled up into a quivering ball, Giratina could get her first good look at him; childlike body, stubby paws, and some puffy tufts at the top of his head… Marshadow was actually rather cute. _Ack,_ she thought, shaking her head again. _Quit making me sound like a romantic, brain._ She could have been crazy, but she swore she heard her subconscious laugh at her.

"You…" Giratina jerked suddenly at hearing Marshadow's soft voice, which was every bit as timid as he was. "You don't… want to kill me?" The Renegade basilisk laughed at his question, and the sudden sound made Marshadow twitch back, like he'd been expecting a strike, but he eventually relaxed. A nervous smile flitted across his face, and combined with his large innocent eyes, he managed to look very adorable. _What did I say about thinking stuff like that?_

"No," said Giratina, after she'd finished her friendly laughter. "What made you think that? I don't even know you." Marshadow suddenly looked nervous (well, more than usual), and for the first time since their meeting his eyes broke away from hers. His paws fiddled with his torso and arms anxiously, like he was on a sugar high but was too afraid to burn off the energy.

"W-well," stuttered the ghost, his voice almost hiccupping due to his anxiety, "I overheard others. You know, when I first got here two days ago. They said you were mean and… a-and other not very nice things." Taking a calculated risk in scaring the much smaller Legend off, Giratina lowered her head to that they were feet from each other, at eye level. Marshadow flinched and cringed for a second, like he was going to be eaten, but he relaxed just as quickly. That struck Giratina as odd; she'd never ever seen another creature warm up to her this quickly, not even Darkrai. He'd needed a few _centuries_ before their friendship started.

"So then why did you follow me?" Giratina asked gently, using a soft tone of voice to avoid spooking the little ghost. A smile crept onto bother her face and into her voice. "It doesn't exactly make much sense, does it?" Marshadow's face instantly took on a darker hue, and his gaze flickered erratically in any direction that was not hers. _He's blushing,_ she realized, _Do I really want to hear what he has to say next?_

"B-b-b-because…" Marshadow's voice trailed off into a dull, nervous mumble, and Giratina was unable to hear what he said. Moving the slightest bit closer, she whispered, "What did you say?" Marshadow reluctantly met Giratina's eyes again, and she felt some blood tint her cheeks pink for whatever reason. _I don't want any comments from the mental peanut gallery._ Marshadow seemed to almost be hyperventilating from the stress of whatever he was about to say, and his limbs were beginning to tense. Unless she wanted him to bolt, Giratina had to do something to relax him. The first thing that came to mind? She bowed her masked head forwards until her forehead tapped against his comfortingly.

They were so close to each other that Giratina could feel his body stiffen, before she felt him relax again. More blood pooled in the Renegade's grey cheeks, and she did her best to ignore that fluttery feeling in her chest that was starting to become stronger. She was just about to get a lid on her raging thoughts when Marshadow spoke.

"I-I thought you looked beautiful."

… _WHAT._

Now it was _Giratina's_ turn to huddle into a ball and whimper. Her head jerked back in surprise at the compliment. He though she… was beautiful? Right from the get-go, even after he'd heard people call her mean and cruel? _Why is this fluttery feeling not stopping?_ she thought, although the longer it stayed the more and more Giratina was starting to welcome it. Honestly, that was probably the single most astounding compliment she'd ever received in her life. Giratina's already-pink face turned to red now as her and Marshadow's eyes met. Apparently, she must have looked angry, because Marshadow immediately started apologizing and groveling.

"I'msorryIdidn'tmeantosaythatIdon'tmeanyou'renotprettybecauseyouarebutIaccidentally—."

"Marshadow," said Giratina with a light chuckle to her voice. Thankfully the little ghost stuttered to a stop, because it looked like he was about to asphyxiate. "I… thank you. I'm glad you think I'm beautiful." Marshadow hesitated for a minute, like he was deciding whether or not she was being sincere, before smiling the widest, most adorable little smile she'd ever seen in her life. Giratina's heart almost melted, or at least that's what it felt like with all the warm butterflies that had gotten in there. Maybe she could try to hold onto this fluttery feeling more often. She was starting to like it.

"I think you look… very cute, Marshadow." The words were out of Giratina's mouth before she could stop them, and she resisted the urge to slap her face with one of her tendrils. _Really? REALLY? 'You look very cute'?_ Not exactly the smoothest comeback ever in the history of returning a compliment. No matter how Arceus-awful it sounded to _her,_ however, Marshadow apparently had the same reaction that she had to his 'beautiful' comment. His face flushed immediately, and a shy grin spread across his face.

"Th-thanks…" he said shyly, almost unable to look her in the eye but having just enough willpower to keep her stare. For some reason, looking into Marshadow's bright eyes set off those fluttery feelings again. "Um… Giratina?"

"Yes?" she asked gently, remembering that they weren't very far apart. Marshadow seemed to fall over his words for a bit, then he looked Giratina dead in the eyes with a sliver of determination. She was about to ask what he was going to say in case he was getting to nervous, but her brain short-circuited when he moved his head closer to hers and kissed her square on the lips.

It was short and innocent, nothing more than a quick peck. But nonetheless, it had been Giratina's first, and the kiss left the Renegade Pokémon grasping for words as her brain shorted out. The warm fluttery feeling multiplied tenfold and spread across the basilisk's entire body, filling her t the core with a giddy, bashful happiness. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before, and she loved it.

When Giratina finally came to her senses well enough to glance back down at Marshadow, she wasn't terribly surprised that he was already gone. If _she_ had reacted so dramatically, she could only imagine what the kiss must have been like for the jittery Legend.

Giratina glanced behind her, she her shadow lay on the tiled floor. The Renegade basilisk felt her lips tingle with warmth as she remembered the sweet little kiss that Marshadow had given her, and she swore that she saw two blinking orange eyes staring back at her from her shadow.

 **E/N- So! That ends this cute, fluffy little story, unless you guys want this to be continued, in which case drop a PM or a review and let me know!**

 **Thanks, as always,  
EyeofAmethyst07**


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